Knee Board decisions

The Board has remanded the Veteran's appeals for right knee patella dislocation and pilonidal sinus/cyst due to inadequate examinations in the prior rating decisions. The Veteran will need new examinations to assess his functional impairment and determine an appropriate disability rating.

The Veteran's claims for service connection of left knee, right knee, and lumbar spine degenerative joint diseases are being remanded.,Further investigation is needed to determine the validity of these claims.

The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claims for service connection due to insufficient medical opinions and need for verification of duty status. The claims will be reviewed again with new examinations.

The Board has granted service connection for low back disability and headaches, but denied service connection for atrial fibrillation and right knee osteoarthritis. The decision is based on the Veteran's credible reports of onset during active duty.

The Veteran's claims for service connection and increased ratings were granted, with effective dates of March 13, 2017. The SMC claim was denied.

The Board has remanded the case due to the need for a medical opinion regarding whether the proximate cause of the Veteran's left knee disability post-arthroplasty was carelessness, negligence, lack of proper skill, error in judgment, or similar instance of fault on VA's part.

The Board denied service connection for a low back disorder, finding that the Veteran's condition did not onset in-service or manifest to a compensable degree within one year of separation.,Service connection was also denied for a left knee disorder due to lack of evidence showing continuity of symptomatology since service. The Board noted that the Veteran's current diagnosis is most likely age-related.

The Veteran's claims for earlier effective dates and increased ratings were denied. The lumbar spine disability rating was restored, but the headaches claim was not granted an earlier effective date.

The Veteran's claims for increased ratings and service connection were denied. The effective date of the right ankle scar was fixed at July 28, 2016. Other claims are pending.

The Veteran's service connection for a thyroid disorder is denied, and a 20 percent rating for left knee instability is granted. The issue of increased rating for left knee limitation of motion remains pending.

The Board has granted service connection for right and left knee degenerative arthritis, as well as right and left knee chondrocalcinosis.

The Veteran's claim for service connection to hypertension is denied. The claims for increased ratings of anxiety disorder, right shoulder disability, left shoulder disability, low back disorder, and right knee disorder are all remanded.

The Board has remanded the case due to the need for additional records and further review of the claims, including those related to effective dates.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for left knee and left ankle disabilities due to insufficient medical opinions addressing causation or aggravation.

The Veteran's claim for an effective date of June 28, 2012, for the grant of a 20% rating for lumbosacral strain, degenerative arthritis of the spine, and intervertebral disc syndrome has been granted.

The Board has remanded the cases due to inadequate examination regarding the severity of the Veteran's right knee condition and for additional development.

The Veteran's previously denied claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss, back disability, right knee disability, left knee disability, and scarring are being remanded due to the need for additional medical examinations.

The Veteran's claims for hernia, psychiatric disability (anxiety and depression), low back condition, head injury residuals, migraine headaches, left knee condition, and bilateral hearing loss are being remanded due to the need for additional development.,An effective date earlier than January 10, 2017, is denied for tinnitus.

The Board has determined that additional development is necessary to determine if the Veteran's service-connected disabilities result in a need for regular aid and attendance. The case is being remanded for this purpose.

The Veteran's initial evaluations for left and right knee status-post arthroscopy ACL surgeries were granted, with a 20% evaluation assigned since December 6, 2019. A separate 10% evaluation was also granted for symptomatic removal of the semilunar cartilage in the left knee.